John Holder was a brisk right-arm seamer who played for Hampshire between 1968 and 1972. His best season was in 1970 when he took 55 wickets at 23.27, but his most impressive performance came in 1972 when he took 6 for 49 and 7 for 79 against Gloucestershire and a month later took a hat-trick against Kent. Between 1974 and 1982 he was a professional in the Lancashire and Yorkshire Leagues, and in 1983 he joined the first-class umpires panel. He stood in his first Test in 1988, and in the next three years officiated in nine more, including four with John Hampshire in Pakistan for the series against India as one of the first neutral umpiring appointments. His final appearance came in 2001, after a ten-year absence. That summer he also umpired in the last of his 19 ODIs. His other claim to fame was that in 1987 he and Don Oslear came up with the idea of a bowl-out after the Tilcon Trophy final had been washed out after organisers requested them to think of a way of finding a winner other than a toss of the coin. The idea was subsequently introduced into all ECB competitions.
Martin Williamson